By Benard Akoma 25/03/25
If the findings of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC is anything to go by, Senator Natasha Uduaghan, embattled senator representing Kogi Central senatorial district, may after all complete her first tenure in the national Assembly.
This is because the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has observed visible abnormalities in the petition to recall Senator Natasha Uduaghan from the Senate.
Senator Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central Senatorial zone has been embroiled in a controversy that led to her suspension for six months from the Senate.
This is sequel to the allegations of her breach of the Senate rules on sitting arrangements levelled against her during plenary. A committee on Ethics of the senate later found her guilty and recommended her suspension for six months.
She however subsequently accused the Senate president, Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment. The imbroglio has since taken a new dimension as Senator Natasha had taken her case to the International Parliamentary Union, IPU.
But in a new twist, people alleged to be constituents of her senatorial zone has initiated a process of recall from the Senate against the embattled senator.
In the process, they have submitted before INEC a petition claimed to have been signed by 474,554 of the registered voters in zone.
In a press release, March 25, 2025 by Sam Olumekun, INEC National Commissioner & Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, it was reported that among issues discussed on its weekly regular meetings held on March 25, was the petition for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District.
They noted that all petitions will be treated in strict compliance with the legal framework. This framework, they stated is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022 as well as the Commission’s detailed Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, available on our website.
They equally observed that the petition from Kogi Central Senatorial District was accompanied by six bags of documents said to be signatures collected from over half of the 474,554 registered voters spread across 902 Polling Units in 57 Registration Areas (Wards) in the five Local Government Areas of Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi and Okene.
The Commission quickly punctured a whole in the whole exercise. According to the commission, “our immediate observation is that the representatives of the petitioners did not provide their contact address, telephone number(s) and e-mail address(es) in the covering letter forwarding the petition through which they can be contacted as provided in Clause 1(f) of our Regulations and Guidelines.”
The address given is "Okene, Kogi State", which they said is not a definite location for contacting the petitioners. Only the telephone number of "the lead petitioner" is provided as against the numbers of all the other representatives of the petitioners, INEC clarified.
Narrating the rigorous process involved in recalling a legislator, they stated, saying, “the Commission wishes to reiterate that the recall of a legislator is the prerogative of registered voters in a constituency who sign a petition indicating loss of confidence in the legislator representing them.”
However, it maintains that “the petition must meet the requirements of submission, as contained in our regulations before the Commission shall commence the verification of the signatures in each Polling Unit in an open process restricted to registered voters that signed the petition only.”
It further stated that “the petitioners and the member whose recall is sought shall be at liberty to nominate agents to observe the verification, while interested observers and the media will also be accredited.”
INEC also stated that at each Polling Unit, signatories to the petition shall be verified using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
But the commission clarified that it will announce the next steps in line with the extant laws, regulations and guidelines if the petitioners fully comply with the requirements of Clause 1(f) of the Regulations and Guidelines regarding the submission of their petition.
In the absence of a definite contact address, the Commission however maintained that it is making efforts to use other means to notify the representatives of the petitioners of the situation.
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